Nutritional Facts

Directions

For lemon curd, in a heavy saucepan, cook and stir the sugar, lemon juice and butter until smooth. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into egg; return all to pan. Bring to a gentle boil, stirring constantly; cook 2 minutes longer or until thickened. Stir in lemon peel. Cool for 10 minutes. Cover and chill for 1-1/2 hours or until thickened.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add vanilla and lemon peel. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk.

Fill paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

Cut a small hole in the corner of a pastry or plastic bag; insert a small round pastry tip. Fill bag with lemon curd. Insert tip 1 in. into center of each cupcake; fill with curd just until tops of cupcakes begin to crack.

In a small bowl, combine the butter, vanilla, salt, confectioners' sugar and enough milk to achieve frosting consistency. Frost cupcakes. Store in the refrigerator. Garnish with flowers or lemon peel if desired.Yield: 1 dozen.

Originally published as Lemon Curd Cupcakes in Taste of Home
April/May 2007, p27

Sort By :

"Great recipe! I've saved it to make again. This is the third or fourth time I've made lemon curd cupcakes, and it's the best recipe I've found for them yet.

The best part of this recipe is that the amounts are all just right -- the lemon curd is just enough to fill this many cupcakes, and the frosting makes just enough to *lightly* frost -- though if you like to pile on giant fluffy pillows of frosting, you'll want to double your batch here. This was the first time I've made this kind of cupcake and haven't had piles of frosting or filling left over. Much appreciated!!!

I did modify this recipe slightly and thought the changes were good:

1. I separated 2 eggs and used the whites for the cakes and the yolks for the curd. 2 yolks makes for a richer curd.

2. Rather than add eggs with butter and sugar, I beat the egg whites with 1/3 cup of the sugar into a stiff meringue, then folded the meringue into the batter after everything was mixed. This made the batter really light and fluffy, which meant I could stretch the recipe to make 16 cupcakes rather than 12.

I did not find this to be at all difficult -- but the lemon curd does require a careful hand. You have to be careful not to overcook, or it will turn clumpy and icky. It does not have to be overly thick before you take it off the heat, as it will thicken upon cooling.

A couple more things to notice: don't add salt to the frosting if you're using salted butter, use a zester to grate the lemon peel really finely so you don't have chunks of peel to bite into, and for goodness' sake use fresh lemon juice in the curd -- it makes all the difference in the world.

"WAY too difficult for the end product. Also, I had a heck of a time tempering the lemon curd ... made three batches and never got it just right. As a mom to three, I need something a little less time consuming ... I'll stick to lemon pie filling from now on."